Edenderry development plan halted after council concerns

A proposal to construct apartment blocks in a small village has been halted after the local authority said that it would damage the character of the area.

Lisburn City Council had requested that the application for a mixed-use development at the former mill site in Edenderry, which stands just to the south of Belfast, be “held in abeyance” while Environment Minister Mark H Durkan considers their concerns.

In a statement following the monthly meeting of the council’s planning committee on Tuesday, the authority declared itself “very disheartened that this application is proposed for approval, as it is not compatible with character of this picturesque village in the Lagan Valley Regional Park”.

It also said that the councillors had been backing the concerns which residents have harboured about the development at the site for the past nine years.

It said that five apartment blocks are proposed at the site, and among the other reservations which councillors expressed at the meeting was the view that the scheme could have an adverse impact on the environment and ecology of the area.

The committee – chaired by the DUP’s Uel Mackin – unanimously agreed to inform the Environment Minister of their concerns.

Lisburn City Council said on Wednesday that the Planning Service has now agreed for the application to be held pending a response from the minister.